Credit and debit card information may include a card number, a card security code, a card holder name, a card expiration date and/or any other pertinent information.
Credit and debit card information has been subject to many security breaches in recent years. Credit and debit card information may be stolen in many different ways. For example, this information can be stolen at an automatic teller machine (“ATM”) or in any other suitable location.
Card information theft can occur if someone places a skimming device on the ATM card reader which reads the information from the card's magnetic strip.
Card information can also be stolen at a retail location. This can occur if someone places a skimming device on the card reader at the retail location, which reads the card information from the card's magnetic strip. The skimming device may save the card information and/or may transmit the card information to a thief. The thief may then use the card information to make unauthorized purchases. In addition, there are many other ways that have not been described, in which card information may be stolen.
A card user may realize, at a later date, that his or her credit card information was stolen. The realization may occur when the card user receives his or her credit or debit card bill, and sees transactions that he or she did not execute and/or authorize. The card user may then contact the company which issued the card—e.g., the bank, or credit card company—to report fraud on his or her card.
The issuing company may decide to refund the user for the fraudulent transaction(s), and issue the user a new card. Issuance of a new card, including new card information, in addition to refunding a transaction, may be expensive for the company issuing the card.
In addition, if fraudulent activity occurs in a major retail store, the issuing card company may automatically send out new cards, with new card information, to any user who frequented the particular retail store in a specific time frame, e.g., a recent time frame. Sending new cards, with new card information, to millions of shoppers can be very costly for the company issuing the cards.
Therefore, it would be advantageous for a company issuing a card to have the ability to change the card information without sending new physical cards.